


In One World, He Waited

by Nowaki



Series: In Another World [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cleaning out my folders, College AU, F/M, Solas is a professor with a crush on his student, heavily implied sex, old fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:25:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6803968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nowaki/pseuds/Nowaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You have a rare and marvelous spirit. In another world..."<br/>In this world, Solas waits for her to graduate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In One World, He Waited

She was sitting in the front row, wearing the red lip stick she knew he liked.  
She wasn't Solas's first favorite student but she was the only one to bridge the gap between a professional and personal relationship. She was the first of their race he'd found himself drawn to, even if she'd been raised by the Dalish. Ironically, it was her heritage that brought them together.  
She'd brought him tea every other week, made from plants she'd brought with her from her home in Clan Lavellan, until he finally admitted to her that he hated all teas. She'd laughed when he told her that he'd hate it even more if she started bringing it for Tethras. He bought them tickets to a museum to make it up to her and they'd ended up kissing in front of a Dwarven pottery display. His lips were still stained red when he got into the shower the next morning.  
It all felt like a dream, the short amount of time they were together. He wished he'd never had to wake up from it.  
Every time he saw her now, he couldn't help but remember how she'd gotten up onto her tip toes to kiss him. He would often realized he was talking to her and ignoring the rest of his class. They were all too busy snap-chatting to notice how passionately he spoke of a goddess stepping out of the sea, mind straying to a memory of her soaking wet in his shower.  
She looked just like a goddess then, arching her back so she could rinse her hair. He'd wished he'd had the same stamina he'd had when he was her age. He would have liked to take her again in the shower after the hours they'd just spent in his bed. She'd made him feel so powerful there as she whispered how disappointing past lovers had been compared to him. How she'd never been with a real man before, one that lasted longer than five minutes.  
He'd had to end it after they'd gotten dressed. She understood that he couldn't be in a relationship with a student, and yet her eyes had been so sad. He promised that after graduation, if she still felt the same, he would be waiting for her.  
Now, she sat in the front row and he couldn't concentrate on anything else.  
She fucking knew it too. There was no other reason that she would have pen in her mouth, those sinfully perfect lips parted just enough for him to see her tongue. He was grateful that it was an exam day and that he could hide behind his desk. It would have been embarrassing if he'd had to give a PowerPoint while in the state those lips put him in.

The recent transfer student sat down beside her after class. He wanted her help with the essay coming up. She was clearly the best student in the class and the only one nice enough to share notes.  
Solas told himself that he wasn't jealous when he heard her agree to a "coffee date" and a game of chess. She was young and he'd cast her away. If she chose to start dating, that was her business.  
If the boy got "randomly" drug tested a bit more often than any other student at the university, well that wasn't Solas's department. At least that's what he said when she emailed him about how the boy's roommate was starting to get nervous.  
He told her in person that he blamed cultural discrimination, that the school was just strict on people of his background. He couldn't tell her this over email because the school monitors emails sent from professors and asked her to please contact him via his personal email if it continued.  
It didn't continue but that was because he told the campus security that he discovered his suspicion of drug use to be false. The boy was just very creative.  
Solas was a liar, but he'd never claimed otherwise.

The transfer was dating a male Qunari. He wrote an essay on how difficult it was given their respective cultures being at war. The Qunari was a returned soldier. Dorian said they'd make a great sitcom, what with his ex-drug addict roommate and his own issues at home. Solas gave him a perfect score despite the other adding "PS, I don't own any slaves" at the bottom of his paper.

He tried not to be disappointed when her name wasn't on his roster for the next semester. He checked twice and decided a third was a little unhealthy. It was best he put their relationship behind them. She had her whole life ahead of her even if he did wish she'd chosen to take another of his courses.  
She may not qualify on paper for his class on ancient elven societies since she hadn't taken the proper language classes but he'd assured her before that he'd speak to the dean on her behalf if need be. The university wouldn't punish her for not studying a language she'd been raised speaking.  
Alas, she was not on his list. However, Dorian Pavus was in one of his magic classes and spent a good hour after class one evening complaining that he didn't receive extra credit for "style." The argument ended with the young man declaring he had no idea what _she_ saw in him before he stormed off.  
A week later, Pavus brought him some Lavellan tea and apologized. Solas brewed it in his office and they drank the nasty herb water in silence.  
"I prefer Tevinter alcohol, to be honest." Dorian said once he'd finished.  
"I agree, even that slime is preferable to this."

Varric pulled him aside one morning, halfway through the semester. He forced him to drink some of the ale he had hidden in his office and tell him why he looked so bummed recently.  
He let slip that his favorite pupil wasn't in his next class and the dwarf sympathized. He'd had great students come and go, most of them retreating into unrelated fields. Solas let him believe it was only that he'd lost a brilliant mind from his classroom, but he knew that Varric understood the heartbreak Solas felt better than he himself ever would.  
Decades ago, before he'd gotten his big break, Varric's fiancée had left him for another man. The way Varric told it, she only married for money but it still hurt.  
Solas had been the one to break things off but somehow he was left feeling the pain of it.

He decided not to put himself through the pain of checking his roster so it was a pleasant surprise when the most beautiful creature known to mankind strolled into his classroom ten minutes early and dropped her bag onto the center front row desk. She'd gotten a little more muscular and the skin that was visible to him was tanned from time spent in the sun.  
Her t-shirt bragged that she'd made Professor Dennet "have a change of Hart." He remembered her mention that she missed the Halla and hoped they'd allow her something more familiar than a Dalish All-Bred.  
There was only a handful of students in this class but she still stole every ounce of his attention. He caught himself mid-introduction admitting that the Dalish weren't too bad despite belong very different from their ancestors. He usually tried to dismiss them entirely but she was sitting there, smiling at him, and wearing that damned Hart shirt on her gorgeous body that she got from participating in a sport and being too busy for him because the school let her have her damned diversity. She was smart and beautiful and sexy as hell because of her roots.  
So, the Dalish were all right in his book, for the moment at least.

She stayed after class, telling him all about how much fun she'd been having. He told her about how her friend Dorian set the person next to him on fire to prove a point. She wasn't surprised in the slightest.  
"I missed you." She said, giving him a hug. He let himself hug her back even though the affection wasn't appropriate here.  
"There's going to be a display at the museum this weekend," he whispered into her hair. "Artifacts from Arlathan, I mentioned it to the class but I'd like to show you in particular."  
"I'd love to go with you, professor."

They didn't make out in front of any pottery but it felt more like a date than the first time they'd gone together. It should have been weird but she let him talk the entire time about various relics.  
He drove her back to the dorms. She looked like she was going to kiss him but to his surprise she gave him a quick hug before departing.

He graded without looking at names, afraid he'd become unfairly lenient. She was horrible at remembering dates but it didn't effect her work too much. Still, he graded her papers as he would anyone else's.  
It was going to be a long semester.

Solas was surprised when he heard she planned on transferring. She'd decided on a major that wasn't offered at their university. The school, Kirkwall Academy, was on the other side of the city, close to where his apartment was.  
She told him that she'd already met her new roommate, another Dalish girl named Merrill. The school had paired them up based on a personality profile and they'd chatting online a couple times before she convinced her shy, new roommate to meet her.  
"She's awkward but she beats Viv any day." She'd told him. He was happy that she was happy.

At the end of the year, she gave him a hug. She wasn't the only student to do so but it felt different.  
"I won't be your student anymore." She told him.  
"No, but I wrote you a professional reference. Come back to me when you've graduated."

He was almost surprised when she returned, still looking as strong and beautiful as ever. She stopped by to bring him tea and tell him all about how how she'd learned as an archeology major and the adventures she planned on. She was still at Kirkwall but she'd gotten a degree and that is what really mattered, she told him.  
"There's no room for an old man in those plans." He warned her when she invited him for dinner.  
"Well, clearly you weren't paying attention. I'm going to need an expert on Elven lore whenever things get messy. So, let me take you out and we'll discuss our partnership. Cool?"  
"Cool? I mean yes. Yes, of course."


End file.
